hey, that's it for us. we'll see you an hour from now at 10:00 p.m. eastern for self-defense and the zimmermann trial. thanks for watching. piers morgan starts now. tears, racial slumps and language we can't repeat. the witness takes the stand in the trial and a -- >> i asked him what the man looked like. he looked like a creepy [ bleep ] cracker. >> and a former nfl star in court in handcuffs charged with murdering a friend. we break it down in law and disorder and the supreme court makes history. bush versus gore and made the case against prop eight. and stephanie and newt gingrich on the right.

it can only mean one thing, cross fire is back on cnn. look at them all ready to cross fire. wow. what an imposing panel you-all look tonight. very exciting. tonight taking on edward snowden, marriage and texas' 500th execution. an explosive day of testimony from a star witness in the george zimmerman trial. rachel was witness number eight. she was on the phone with martin moments before he was shot and killed by zimmerman and that testimony was must see from everything from tears talking about martin's death to some language we can't repeat here. martin savidge has the latest. a dramatic day in court today. >> reporter: an incredible day. this was a witness everyone had been waiting to see, highly anticipated is not leveling enough. this young lady as you pointed out, was on the phone with martin at the time he crossed paths with zimmerman.

it's the critical moment and she has the answers, at least from the state's perspective, as to what really went on. a number of things she brought out and this is all for the prosecution. she says on the phone with trayvon, trayvon says i'm being followed. this is at the time george zimmerman identified trayvon martin in the neighborhood. then later she says she can hear over the telephone someone confronting trayvon martin, and she says it's george zimmerman. so already, we're seeing a change here. and then on top of that later, she hears trayvon saying get off, get off, well, that would imply that george zimmerman is now the aggressor and on top or at least trying to get on top of the young teenager. so, this would all fly directly in the face of self-defense that george zimmerman has been proclaiming. however, this young witness has a lot of credibility issues, and that's of course, what the defense was going after saying her testimony changed over time

and she has admitted to lying in this case. piers? >> she also, martin, had a kind of strange demeanor, i thought in court. the sort of thing you haven't seen for a long time, irritated in parts, very annoyed at some of the questioning. didn't want to come back. how will that play for the prosecution given that she's such a crucial witness? >> a lot of people were looking at it going oh, boy, this is a train wreck but looking at it in a different perspective than jurors. jurors could look at her attitude. she clearly was not wanting to be there. she said she didn't want to be there. it upset her in a number of ways. she was the last person that talked to him, but i think she also comes across as somewhat credible because of that fact. in other words, she doesn't have anything to lose, and she did seem to have a certain sincerity, if you could read it through the attitude and that's the real question only the jurors know. i tried to watch faces.

i know people in there and looking at them. there was never a time the jurors got emotional but trayvon martin's family got emotional at times over what she had to say. >> thank you very much indeed. we'll talk about about this case. joining me to break down what happened gloria and we also have james and cnn senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin. welcome to you-all. i wasn't quite sure who was coming. there you-all are and looking very star full, i must say. >> jeffrey, your reaction what happened today and this key witness because it's hard to work out after that performance whether she was brilliant for the prosecution, or potentially not so brilliant. what do you think? >> you know, she was an unusual difficult witness to evaluate because she was like a kid up there. she answered in half sentences. it was very hard to hear or understand a lot of what she

said. she admitted that she had lied under oath in the past. she very much seemed sympathetic to the martin family and to the prosecution, so all of that could on the one hand make her seem like a terrible witness but on the other hand she just seemed like a kid who was telling the truth in certain respects, at least the crucial aspects, trayvon was on the phone saying this guy is following me and making me uncomfortable. that's the key part of her testimony, and that seemed believable to me, anyway. >> well, let's take a look at that particular clip of what she said about the sequence of events. let's watch that first. >> i asked him how the man looked like. he looked like a creepy [ bleep ] cracker and then i just told him run. then he said why are you following me for? and i heard a hard breath man

come say what you doing around here? and i start hearing grass and grass -- wet grass sound. i kept on going trayvon, trayvon, and i heard a little bit trayvon saying get off, get off and suddenly the phone hung up. >> jay, i mean, if you take that at face value and that is the truth, that's a brett at the devastating indictment of what george zimmerman did, isn't it? >> it is and isn't, piers. the only issue here is self-defense. it was what was in george zimmerman's mind at the confrontation. it's not about this young lady's credibility because it's a wash what her testimony is. yes, she was a difficult witness. she was impossible. she also said things like she heard the wet grass movement. really? what does that sound like? the reality is she's rolling her eyes. she's talking to trayvon and saying he's running hard, he's breathing and scared and she is doing her hair on the blue tooth.

to me, i discount it because if it was that horrible she would have taken the blue tooth off and listened and called somebody but she didn't. that doesn't go to who confronted who first. trayvon was very angry. he's annoyed this guy is watching him and looking at him so maybe, just maybe he's the one that started the confrontation because for self-defense, what's in the mind of george zimmerman did he have a reasonable fear of great bodily harm or death at that moment. >> let me play a second clip, this is for gloria to commit on afterwards. this is an interesting point she made which i think will resinate with the jurors. >> do you watch first 48? >> i didn't hear you. >> do you watch first 48? they call them the first number that the victim talked to. >> i'm sorry, the first 4? >> a show, the first 48, when a victim died, they call the number that the victim called before, and they have it.

they didn't call my number, so -- and they had already got the person so case closed, i thought. >> now gloria, i thought this was a really fascinating part of today's testimony. because what she's saying is look, i watched this tv show and it's about cops and investigators and so on, and in this kind of situation, they would always get the phone that trayvon martin's cell phone and see who he had been talking to in his last few minutes and interview that person. the police didn't do that. she called out everybody, the police, the investigators, everybody, is that significant? >> i think it is interesting that young people often learn about the criminal justice system from television, as opposed to in school. so what she was saying is i watch this television program. the police are supported to call me, i'm not supported to call the police, and they didn't call me and that's why i didn't go to law enforcement. >> why didn't they call her? >> why didn't they call her? i don't know because they should

have called as soon as possible to get her testimony, to get her statement for the police and to get it before mr. crump was able to record her, which he did -- >> trayvon's attorney. >> yes, trayvon's attorney and now she's having to defend what she said to mr. crump, which apparently was played on television, she said she didn't know it would be. now she's saying she didn't take that seriously. what she said and she has to defend a lot of inconsistencies and also lies she told and yet she was honest about the lies she told. she explained and gave a reason at least why she lied to the victim's mother about not going to trayvon's funeral. she's under pressure. she doesn't want to be there. she didn't want to be involved in all this. she was obviously upset that trayvon was died -- or was killed and she really didn't want to be a part of it, but she went along with it and talked to mr. crump along with the victim's mother. >> jeffrey toobin, this is where

she gets challenged why she was inconsistent in some previous evidence. see what she said about this. >> you have to understand what i'm trying to tell you. i'm the last person, you don't know what -- how i felt. you think i really want to go see the body after i just talked to him? >> there was also, jeffrey, before you respond to that, i want to play the final clip of that, when she was made aware that she may have to come back. watch this. >> maybe we can break until the morning -- >> no, i'm -- >> what? >> i'm leaving today, no. >> are you refusing to come back tomorrow? >> to you? >> how much more time do you think that you need to finish your cross? >> i certainly wouldn't -- i don't know for sure. i would think we should plan on at least a couple of hours. >> what?

>> i agree with you jeffrey, there may be inconsistencies but she's a kid. she doesn't want to be there. finds it incredibly difficult. this is the glare of television cameras putting footage around the world and her own background and her own twitter feed, her facebook posts, all that kind of stuff in her life is now being picked up by the media and they are trying to go after her. you know, it's not a pleasant experience, is it? >> no, and i have to say the candor and the honesty, i just love that moment. when i was watching live i almost fell over laughing to tell you the truth. he says two hours and she goes what? she just doesn't want to be there, and she responds, not like someone who would take the oath -- she's like a kid. she's like i don't want to be here. two hours, are you kidding? now, you know, of usually that's not the way a witness is supposed to behave, but does that tell you that she's lying? not really. i just think it shows that this

is a 12th grader. she's still in 12th grade and she really doesn't -- doesn't want to be there. you know, we'll see if she really is discredited in -- on the substance of her testimony, but so far i haven't seen it. >> let's turn now to another matter, also with trayvon martin but also the murder case, of course, today against former patriot's star aaron hernandez. what do you make of this? this guy signed a five year, 40 million dollar contract and on a murder charge. >> it's a circumstance you don't see a lot for good reason. >> okay -- >> it's a lot of questions, just as many questions as we have answers. circumstantially it looks like he's guilty. it looks like everything is against him, but i go back to the ray lewis situation back in 200. 0.

he was arrested for murder and held without bail for two weeks and testified against his accomplishes and got northing. so you don't know are they arresting him to try to get him to turn against guys, or are they arresting him because they actually believe he did it -- >> or are they arresting him because the other guy already flipped and turned against him? >> that's the biggest question because some specifics they had on this case, the reason that the motive was supposedly there was he was upset the guy for talking to people he didn't like. someone had to tell them that. >> what is crucial is the weapon, and we have a new photograph from tmz showing hernandez holding a glock handgun in a photo he took himself on a cell phone. gloria, how significant could that be? >> if, in fact, it's the same gun used, we don't know. the search warrants are sealed and warrants seals. we don't know. it's speculation guesses. the attorney is saying this circumstantial evidence, well circumstantial evidence is good evidence and has been used often

to convict people. >> and again, is it circle because two guys -- there are two other accomplishes we know, seen on tape and they have records of those guys being there but because the court records are sealed, we don't know if they are telling the police he shot him. >> i interviewed bob recently and we talked about the culture of guns in the nfl. this is another example, if that's what it is, if it turns out he's convicted and used a gun and so on. there is this culture, isn't it, of players having a gun, empowers themselves with a weapon? >> i think there is a culture of guns among young people, and i think that's the issue. people forget nfl players, nba players, most of them are 23, 24, 25. the average career is four years. so a lot of young people and part of that macho image in america right or wrong is you have to have guns, roll with your homies. they don't say i'm out of that situation now. they try to prove to their

friends, i haven't changed and that gets them in trouble. >> thank you very much, indeed. more analysis of the zimmermann case and what we can expect tomorrow coming up later in the show. but first, the two men that convinced the supreme court to make the decision today. against proposition eight and join me next and makes a debut right here tonight. . the healthcare law gives us powerful tools to fight it... to investigate it... ...prosecute it... and stop criminals. our senior medicare patrol volunteers... are teaching seniors across the country... ...to stop, spot, and report fraud. you can help. guard your medicare card. don't give out your card number over the phone. call to report any suspected fraud. we're cracking down on medicare fraud. let's make medicare stronger for all of us.

the united states supreme court in two important decisions brings us that much closer to true equality. >> today i finally get to look at the man that i love and finally say, will you please marry me? >> bush versus gore, we know how

that went but ted olson and david boyce argued against proposition eight and join me tonight. gentlemen, congratulations on a very successful day, obviously. was it a successful as you would wished it to be? >> we are tickled to death with what happened in the supreme court today. it's a victory for the people in california that wish to get married to the person they love. this is what we set out to do. when we first took this case and this is what happened today in the supreme court of the united states. the vindication to be treated with dignity and respect and equality. we could not be happier. >> and i think -- >> if i can -- let me rephrase the question. if i can rephrase the question. are you frustrated, though, despite the success, that we we didn't get today from the supreme court was a decision on a homosexual's constitutional right to get married in america?

>> well, what you did get was a decision that i think lays the ground work for decisions all across the country to establish marriage equality in every one of the 50 states. now what happened in the case that we brought in california is that because the governor and the attorney general did not appeal that decision, the supreme court did not have jurisdiction to decide the case on the merit, but what the court did was vacate the appeal and that brought back into effect the district court's decision, and the district court's decision does establish that broad civil right for all americans under the contusion to marry the person they love. you hear the people around here, you'll understand how they are encouraging today's victory. [ cheers ]

>> ted olson, i was struck by one comment today by a cardinal who said it's a tragic day for marriage and our nation. i mean, to me, a tragic day for america is 9/11 pearl harbor, not the day the supreme court says that two men or women that love each other can get married. what is your reaction to what the cardinal said? >> my reaction is the same as that, and i want to amp fie what david said. we wanted to overturn proposition eight and that's what happened today. we are talking about people who love one another, who want to be together and if everybody in america can stand where david and i are standing now and looking at the people and the happiness in their faces and eyes that they can now be treated equally with the rest of their citizens in california and this will spread like wildfire all over the united states. today was an unequivocal victory for gay and lesbian individuals and americans who strive for

dignity. we are so happy this came out the way it did. >> david, i mean, justice scalia did this long rack to descent, one of the great descents in supreme court history, not happy at all. what was your reaction to that? it seemed to be pretty over the top. >> right, justice scalia has been on the other side of this issue for ten years. ten years ago lawrence against texas was decided, the first major civil rights decision establishing rights for gay and lesbian couples, and the justice descended in that case. one of the things i think is remarkable, though, about the

descent is he's very candidate in recognizing that the fight is over. he comes out on the other side, but he's very candidate and honest about saying that the fight is over. once the court decided what it decided today, establishing marriage equality in all 50 states is just a matter of time because it's just a matter of applying the same principles the court articulated today to additional cases from additional states and even his descent that the court's opinion can be written, where all you have to do is substitute a specific state's name for doma and i think he's recognizing, as we all recognize that today is new day has dawned in america. we now have established full equality for gay and lesbian citizens.

>> well, a lot of people celebrating down there, and quite rightly. finally, ted olson, what does this mean in terms of the bigger picture? when will people start getting married, gay people in california, do you think in terms of a time scale, and, you know, given what happened today with doma, the hash reality remains that although they can get married in california, the same gay couple who are now entitled to the benefits that have been brought in by this decision, if they go to a state later through work, whatever that doesn't recognize that, they are back where they started. where do you see america given the way and the speed this is moving, is actually moving to what california has in totality? >> i don't know that because it was very difficult to hear your full question, you can hear the enthusiasm here that tends to drowned out part of what you're

saying. in terms of talking about a timetable, we don't know exactly when that will occur for legal procedures take awhile before the decision becomes final and it becomes effective in california. we're studying all that. we'll do -- we'll deal with that the same way we dealt with everything else in this case, carefully and we'll know what we're doing before we go forward. soon, tens of thousands of californians will be able to embrace the people they love and get married, and that will spread like wildfire all over the united states. starting today, it's going to go everywhere. >> ted olson and david boys, you famously opposed each other in the past. i prefer you getting together because that seems to be very effective. congratulations on a terrific

day and long may you continue to move forward with this in the future. greatly appreciate you coming on the show tonight. next is the return of cross fire, cnn is bringing it back and we got the brand-new team right here first. and they are chomping at the bit. look at them. chomping. look at them kids...

they have no idea what it was like before u-verse high speed internet. yeah, you couldn't just stream movies to a device like that. one time, i had to wait half a day to watch a movie. you watched movies?! i was lucky if i could watch a show. show?! man, i was happy to see a sneezing panda clip! trevor, have you eaten today? you sound a little grumpy. [ laughter ] [ male announcer ] connect all your wi-fi-enabled devices

with u-verse high speed internet. rethink possible. if you don't mean being called a radical -- >> yes, i do. >> no, i am a radical. >> i don't know why you're so defensive, rush, what is wrong -- >> because i take my business as seriously as you take yours and the term radical implies

irresponsible. it implies dangerous -- >> only to you. >> from 1990 that's cross fire with a young rush limbaugh. he says he's not back on cross fire. he's too old and too boring. instead cnn is bringing back the cross fire format with four incredible co-hosts, van jones, stephanie cutter, van jones, welcome to you-all. for the first time, welcome cross fire. very lively. let's get straight into this. newt gingrich you must be absolutely thrilled about the supreme court's decision today. >> i was thrilled you're missing the core point that 8 million californians voted a particular way. the governor and their attorney general refused to defend them, and as a result, the court didn't actually decide the substance of the case. david was clear. the court said there is nobody here who is standing to defend the case, therefore the case is remitted because of that or amended because of that.

it strikes me that the 8 million people in cam cal have a reason to be alienated from washington than they were yesterday. >> let me ask you quickly before we go to the rest of the panel, why are you so opposed to gay people having the same rights to get married as you, why? >> first of all, i'm not opposed to gay people having the right to have a relationship -- >> to get married i said. >> much like cardinal, i do believe as a christian the march rig between -- >> cardinal dolan is described it as a tragedy for america, a tragedy two loving people of the same sex can get married like you and me, that's a tragedy for america? >> i think if you want to reject the right of the catholic bishop's collectively, not just him, to actually stand up for their values and you want to say that's -- and you want to do that, that's your right, but in fact, i do believe states are making arrangements.

what i object to in this case is very clear cut. you had a 5-4 decision to reject 8 million californians on the ground that 8 million people have standing before the supreme court -- >> no, i hear that. let's go to van jones, it seems you want to get in there. is this a tragedy, van? >> as a christian, if you're concerned about traditional marriage, kim kardashian has done more harm to traditional marriage than any gay person. the institution of marriage is screwed up because of the the straight people. they are viewing up and cheating. the problem we have now is just because you put something on the ballot, if you put it on the ballot in the civil rights of 1950, we wouldn't have them. the court has the job to protect people. i'm glad they did the job.

>> this is startling, i think you'll agree with van jones. >> when it comes to property eight i agree with newt. that's a shame. i'm a conservative who happens to support gay rights. i'm a conservative who supports marriage. i'm a conservative who supports gay marriage. so on doma i think there was a victory, but to me the significant ruling in doma wasn't just that the federal government has to acknowledge the right of gay people to marry but the federal government has to acknowledge the right of the states. as a small government conservative who supports federalism, i think this was a huge victory for federalism and if you believe in it with a c then you have to see that as at least a silver lining. >> stephanie cutter, you're putting a face like you've eaten a very, very bad onion or you don't agree with that. >> no, not an onion. i was just waiting to speak.

i don't think it was a surprise where i stand. i am very happy about the supreme court's decision today on doma. a lot of us have been against doma for a long time and fighting to overturn it. in terms of the decision on california, yes, 8 million people voted for a ballot initiative. but as van said, people have voted before and have been wrong. that's why we have checks and balances in the government. we have three branchs of government and the courts perform a check on people and vice versa. i think today there was a check on ensuring that people have equality in california. and i think that's why -- >> okay -- >> what we saw in the background of ted and david was a huge celebration. people in california are embracing this. >> you got a lot of happy americans on this tragic day for america. let's move on to texas because texas is fascinating to me right now because you have this extraordinary scene last night with wendy davis doing this 13-hour filibuster.

she was three hours short. this is act the fact rick perry and others want to bring in toughest abortion laws in america which shut down abortion clinics in texas. rick perry said texans value life. that's when he said. this was his argument for bringing in these incredible abortion laws. this is the same texas that today celebrated the 500th execution since 1982. >> 500. >> as a valued life, it also has some of the most laxed gun laws that led to some of the most gun deaths in america. again, i questioned how far this valuing life goes in texas. over to you newt, explain to me. >> first of all, the total number of executions you cited for texas over the years is about the same of the number of people killed in chicago last year with among the most restrictive gun laws in america. so i think you're draping a red herring. this law is based on when babies

start to feel pain, which is a scientific fact. babies around 20 weeks clearly feel pain and this is a bill which says that if that's -- if you have not had an abortion by the 20th week, that you're now putting the baby through pain, and that's why they drew that particular line. now you can decide you don't care about babies having pain and the woman's right over rides that but the bill is based on scientific studies when babies start to feel pain. >> van? >> you know, part of the reason we want to have this show cross fire because the show which we haven't talked about that much will be a half hour long and one top pick at a time so we can get deep into this stuff. i think a lot of people do feel about the balance here between the fetus and the mother. the problem you've got, though, in texas is this railroading going on from the governor and this new hero. this senator davis has stood up,

she stood on her feet for 11 hours, 13 hours and will be a force to be reckoned with. we can't talk about every issue in depth -- i want to see people like her come on your show, cross fire -- >> i'd rather right now here the reaction of -- >> thank you. this lionizing -- >> great leader. >> susan b anthony and frederick douglas and rosa b parks roll over in their grades what is a hero today are so shockingly pathetically low. not to mention democrats used to want abortions to be safe, legal and rare. this bill would introduce those safety precautions, which are common sense, healthy safety precautions. democrats have lost their rational common sense and it will swing back in the other direction as the majority of the country who is in the middle on

this issue realizes these positions are extreme. >> if i can just jump in for a second -- >> last word to you, make it brief, please. >> i think it's already swung and it's been against republicans, putting these initiatives forward to restrict women's ability to make their healthcare decisions. if there is any backlash, it will be against republicans. we've actually already seen that in one election. they are digging the hole again and we'll probably see it in the next election. >> i want to say how excited i am about this cross fire coming back. i think it's a great idea. i think your four will be fantastic because i would have liked to kept you on longer tonight and i can't. that's a good sign. that means i'll watch cross fire. most people will watch it to see newt get wound up every night. that alone will be worth the entrance fee. thank you for coming on. great to have you on the show ex come back again soon. looking forward to cross fire starting in the near future. good to see you-all. high drama from the george zimmerman trial, but what will

happen in the courtroom tomorrow? we'll tell you what to watch out for, coming up next.

tomorrow is day four in the george zimmerman murder trial and if today is any indication, we expect the testimony to be explosive, emotional and surprising. will it hurt or help the prosecution. we have our guests, welcome back to you both.

martin, what is likely to happen tomorrow? >> well, i mean, you know, if you were a viewer and a court watcher and you liked this afternoon, you'll love tomorrow because it's more of the same. we'll have rachel jeantel will pick up where she left off. the defense will aggressively try to poke holes in the consistency of her story. they have to be careful because it's a young person and a person traumatically effected because she was the last person to talk to trayvon martin and they were friends. so there are a lot of people that have their opinions about this young woman and how much you can really trust what he says, but in the end really six opinions matter, the jurors and we'll have to wait to see what they say. >> jeffrey toobin, i agree with your take on this. i think the credibility outweighs the occasional inconsistency. i would expect that in somebody in that age to be brutally honest with you. in a bigger picture, do you think we'll see zimmerman give

evidence himself? >> not a chance. not a chance. his story will be in front of the jury. he made statements to the police officers. those are count -- those are going to come in. everybody on the jury will know that his defense is self-defense. if he were to take the witness stand, he would be confronted with all the -- at least somewhat contradictory things he said. most defense attorneys avoid putting their clients on the stand. i just think there is almost no chance he will take the witness stand. i don't see what he has to gain by it, and i think he has a lot to lose. >> in terms of the bigger issues this case raises, are we seeing much evidence of race being a factor as many people feared or is it really coming down to a test of florida's self-defense laws? >> well, criminal trials are really always about individual cases. they are not examinations of

society and the state of race relations in florida or anywhere else, but it is an unmistakable theme of the trial. the 911 calls where zimmerman keeps saying there is a black kid walking around. there are these black kids that look suspicious. no one will miss the implication that zimmerman had some problem with black people. so yes, this is not really a big case about the state of race relations, but race remains at the heart of this case, and, you know, i think it will only be more present as the trial proceeds. >> jeffrey toobin, martin savidge, a gripping case and i'm sure will continue to be so. thank you both for joining me. comes next, nba champ chris bosh is in the chair, right next to me. here he comes. god, he's huge. how are you? good to see you. >> nice to meet you. >> i'm feeling intimidated.

talking about their triumph, lebron james and much more after the break. dad. how did you get here? i don't know. [ speaking in russian ] look, look, look... you probably want to get away as much as we do. with priceline express deals, you can get a fabulous hotel without bidding. think of the rubles you'll save. with one touch, fun in the sun. i like fun. well, that went exactly i as planned.. really? and i've been around the toughest guys in football. and now i'm training guys who leak a little to guard their manhood. with man style protection... whoa... of new depend shields and guards. who are you? this is my house. perfect. come with me. built you a little man space under here. how 'bout that. sweet. see depend shields and guards are made to fit guys. that's awesome. i trained that guy now it's your turn. go online for my tips to help guard your manhood.

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for all those guys who left, you know, make sure they don't come to game seven. we only want the guys who are

going to stay in the building for the whole game. you never give up. peop gave up on us, and, you know, they can stay where they are and watch the game at home. >> spoken like a true champion that he is. that's chris bosh who helped the miami heat capture another nba title. i quite agree with you, chris bosh. what the hell were they thinking? slinking out just because you were having a tough game. >> yeah, sometimes it looks bad. but i remember telling my wife, we were watching i think basketball during the regular season. she said oh, it's a ten-point lead, only two minutes left. i said no, you never give up on the game. >> absolutely right. i am a knicks fan, so let me lay my cards on the table. but in this particular competition, i was backing you guys in that final, because i thought there's something about the heat that's magical to watch. great players, top of their

game. you get all this flak, don't you? everybody wants to whack the heat. how do you collectively as a team deal with that? >> we rely on each other a lot. i think a lot of it is the way we came together. but we always let it be known that we're here to win basketball games. we're here to have fun, and we're here to work together. we know the common goal of ourselves, and we know the common message that we always put out there. it's always positive. it's always about team work. we just feel if we continue to do that, everything will work out fine. >> your mate lebron has quite some mental strength. he was being told this was the finals that was going to expose him as the lightweight he was. and he did what all great champions do, and had the game of his life in the seventh game. how does he deal with the particular pressure he gets, because it's extraordinary.

>> it is extraordinary. everything he deals with. i don't think the world has seen an athlete deal with so much. you know, he was thrust into the spotlight when he was 15, 16 years old. he was supposed to be the next guy, the chosen one. and to actually go through those things and still accomplish some major goals that people never dream of reaching, i think that's special in itself. just the fact that he's able to just overcome every challenge that's come his way is quite remarkable. >> talking remarkable, we've had this big day in the supreme court today and recently nba player jason collins came out. what is your take on this, do you think more professional athlete also have the courage to be more open with things like their sexuality? >> i think so. america is changing, of course, as time goes on things change

and people are fighting for rights. and rightfully so, they could. and i think with more people gaining confidence, i think more of that will happen. that's on the fellows who, you know, the guys and the girls who have to really take that step. we don't know anything they're going through. so whatever they're going through in their heads with themselves or with their families, as long as everybody is happy, that's what is most important. >> how have you managed to avoid the normal scandal that goes with almost every top sportsman? you're squeaky clean, a lovely wife, expecting a third child. i couldn't find any skeletons rattling in your closet. am i not trying hard enough? >> i'm a lucky guy. i've been just really blessed to be in this position, not only to play basketball at a high level, when championships, but just to get the opportunity to have

great kids, have a beautiful, loving wife who supports me in everything i do. i mean, i tell them that i'm the lucky one. i'm the person who is just lucky to have them in my lives, and i do everything for them. >> i tweeted about you when you did that brilliant pass. i used to play a bit of basketball. only american sport i can claim any knowledge of. you're a champion. there's a few players on that heat team that are natural born winners. what do you think it takes when you literally ironically get the heat, what does it take to win these things. >> against us? >> what does it take for you to win, to be a champion? >> oh, boy. i think just think of the hardest thing you'll probably have to do, taking those challenges and actually beating them. you know, we faced a lot of adversity during the playoffs,

especially in game six. i think that was the tipping point of the whole thing. >> what do you say to each other, after that game, you get together, you've escaped by the skin of your teeth, you've got one last chance, what do you say to each other? >> i had two conversations -- during the game? >> just generally, how do you deal with that kind of game where you just about get away with it? >> you have to play the game and luckily it went our way. we went to overtime and won the game. i had two conversations, very short. i went to ray allen, and we were just sitting there in disbelief. he looked to me and said how did you get that rebound and see me? i said, i don't know, you were right there. after that, i walked past lebron, and we were trying to remember what sequence of the game happened and how we got to that last point and we could not remember. it was a very blurry situation, and it was over. >> it was brilliant to watch. a quick shot out to your nonprofit organization, dedicated to helping children and their families.

best of luck with that. will lebron be with you next year? >> i'll give him a shout see if he comes. >> chris bosh, great to see you. congratulations again. that's all for us tonight. this is a great day for america, a day america took one step forward to not having bigotry in this country. tomorrow night, we'll have all the latest from the george zimmerman trial. anderson cooper starts right now.

good evening, everyone. welcome to our special continuing coverage of the george zimmerman trial. tonight, a big ruling and high drama in the courtroom. the prosecution putting their star witness on the stand, a female friend of trayvon martin who was on the phone with him as the fatal confrontation began. from the initial questioning to the cross-examination ran the gamete. we're going show a lot of it tonight to you. a warning as well. some of the language was harsh in the courtroom. so if you would rather not hear it, we'll tell you when to turn the volume down. with that in mind, turn the volume down now, if you don't want to hear that language. here's randi kaye's report. >> reporter: rachel jeantel and trayvon martin were good